Controlling Crabgrass

Melissa Dunlap is a writer, editor and blogger specializing in lifestyle communications. Fueled by curiosity, and a tad too much coffee, Melissa enjoys dissecting current trends for the modern woman. When she's not having dance parties w...

Stop crabgrass from taking over your lawn.

Crabgrass can take over quickly and make a beautiful lawn look messy and unkempt. When you notice crabgrass in your yard, take these steps to get rid of it and keep it from coming back.

Crabgrass can take over quickly and make a beautiful lawn look messy and unkempt. When you notice crabgrass in your yard, take these steps to get rid of it and keep it from coming back.

Crabgrass gets its name due to its growth pattern. The plant will have one central root underground which spreads in all directions allowing the weed to spread out from a star-shaped center hub. Crabgrass itself is identifiable from lawn grass due to its wide blades and tall, spread-out structure. It grows quickly in hot weather and can take over your yard by the end of summer.

One way to prevent crabgrass is by letting the rest of your lawn get taller. Set the height on your lawnmower to high, and when you cut your lawn the long blades of the grass you want will provide shade that keeps crabgrass seeds from germinating.

Deep watering can also prevent crabgrass from growing. Since it is a weed, its adapted to poor growing conditions. Crabgrass roots are very shallow, while lawn grass roots run deeper. Water deeply to nourish grass roots and dry out the crabgrass roots.

If these natural measures don't take care of your crabgrass problem, chemicals are another option. Many leading formulas are designed to kill crabgrass without hurting the rest of the lawn.